


Home.

by Noblegas Xenon (NoblegasXenon)



Series: There's A Traitor In the Midst [10]
Category: Lego - All Media Types, Lego Ninjago
Genre: Gen, also uhhhhh Youxia is a sorcerer of some kind, anyways life's fucked up for Ronin, everyone are illusions they don't count, haha Youxia fucks him up even when he's not there, that's his magic when the Illusion Double doesn't disappear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-05 07:03:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14038788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoblegasXenon/pseuds/Noblegas%20Xenon
Summary: Where do you live now?





	Home.

Ronin’s dragging Morro into another room in the temple. It’s dark and kinda damp but he’s excited. It’s been something he’s been wanting to try and something he’s been wanting to talk about. To him, it’s been forever since Stiix was last spoken about. He almost thinks that Wu had forgotten it existed.

He finds a room that’s large and far away from Wu. So he slams the door open and sits in the middle of the room. He knew it was going to take a lot of focus, but he thinks of Stiix and knows it’d be worth it. Morro glances at him before sitting down a few feet away.

Ronin breathes and changes the landscape of the room. The wood becomes more rotten and wet feeling, and there’s a fog but it’s not hard to see through. Morro looks around as the room turns into a town. He sees his brother knock on the wood and it flickers but doesn’t change back.

“So, this was where you used to live?” Morro asks, looking at the buildings. Ronin just nods excitedly before the ocean starts appearing. He freezes a little but ignores it. He tries to think nothing of it as Morro heads for the docks area. He could faintly remember someone pushing him into the water, vague shapes and a resemblance to self.

He shakes his head, it’s not what he should be focusing on. But it creeps into his mind and he could almost remember what happened. He forces his thoughts into another direction. He remembers Hitomi, the caretaker and mother. He misses her, and hopes she’s okay.

“Hey, can you tell me what it was like living here?” Morro shouts to him, from around the docks and he jumps startled. In that moment, he finds himself unable to speak but nods and runs to sit with him. He’s not getting tired yet, so he conjures some images.

“It was- It was loud and always active,” Ronin gestures and a crowd of small boats show up with blank faced people using nets and fishing poles. “There would be fisherman at the docks for almost the whole day and lots of travellers,” Another conjuration, this time of more blank faces. They were carrying backpacks and other kinds of equipment. “I- I think there were stalls out all the time? I don’t remember much but, I liked it there.” The final image was of shops upon shops near the edge of the water. Restaurants and tourist shops being the center of it all.

Ronin thinks of what to talk about next about his old town. The conjurations fade in place of another one with the room still the same. He doesn’t mean it when the orphanage shows up next to them. But it causes him to light up and he leaps off the dock to run towards it.

It was hardly a sprint, the building being right next to them but he knew the place. With its familiar walls and familiar people. Morro gives him a questioning look when he turns to grin.

“It’s- This was the old orphanage in Stiix,” The only safe place he felt truly at home, he doesn’t say. But Morro is patient and only nods to him. Ronin continues as he looks at the building. “The- The caretaker was pretty strict but being around her felt-” The door opens and he sees her again, but faceless. He holds back disappointment as she sweeps past them into the streets. Her metal shoes clanking against wood.

He nearly forgets she’s just an illusion and almost grabs her apron. He stops himself staring ahead. Watching her, Ronin doesn’t shake himself from it and the illusion begins to crumble changing shape into something else.

It changes into the old empty theater and he sees something he recognizes but Ronin doesn’t remember what it was. Morro walks past him, looking over all the masks. Ronin vaguely remembered three masks but doesn’t say anything. He notices Morro dusting off one of the masks and it starts changing shape. His brother jumps a little, startled by the movement.

“Ronin, what the fuck?” Morro’s waiting for an answer and Ronin could only rub the back of his head sheepish. Ronin then shrugs in response. His memories were flooding into the illusion and taking its own control. He looks over Morro’s shoulder to see that the mask was of one fox, bright red with green eyeliner and black bangs.

“Huh, isn’t that Kichiro?” Morro says in bemusement. Two more masks change shape and it’s just like before. Dark brown with red hair and a cream white weasel. “And that’s Tadao. When did you see this?” Morro said pointing out the other fox mask.

“B- Back at Stiix, I-” The mirrored image shows up in his mind again. He doesn’t understand but it fills him with fear. Who was that? Who was it? Why now were they appearing? He could hear a chuckle in the back of his mind.

Morro places the mask down and all three shatter in loud cracking noises. Morro backs away and Ronin flinches. They see Kichiro’s shatter into something unrecognizable, just pieces left. Then the weasel with a large crack going through until it reaches the other ends and simply breaks apart. The dark brown fox’s- Tadao’s meets the same fate as Kichiro’s.

And he burns out, taking the landscape back to its former self. But- But something remains, the mask shards begin to form into something- someone else. Ronin finds himself backing away when he sees brown hair that flowed like his. The faceless figure picks up the weasel mask and the two large halves fix themselves up.

He hears the chuckling again. “Did you really think it’d be that easy? Did you really think you could run away from your own life?” It's too stable, too real and every syllable felt like a dagger through his heart. He doesn’t remember who that is but it’s not him. It’s not him, but he doesn’t know just who that was. The figure continues.

“You just go and abandon your _dear_ little brother alone to survive on his own. Aren’t you adding to his problems? My problems?” Ronin whimpers and falls on his knees. “It’s pathetic how alone you are.” He can’t listen to this. He can’t but the figure keeps going. “But it’s your fault for that. It’s your fault for everything.” Silently, he raises a hand, tries to remove the illusion. Tries to get rid of the specter but he can’t.

It’s strengthened by something and he couldn’t tell from what. In fact, it seems to just vibrate from under his control and the figure starts to laugh.

“You’re just playing with dolls, brother dearest.” They start to advance and Ronin starts to shake. Why won’t it leave him? “You were never the strongest. Always so weak. I’m surprised you made it this far without me.” He looks up and he sees Morro, his expression is unreadable but his aura is frantically flickering. Horror mixed with confusion. Ronin tries to crawl to him but the apparition kicks him and he wheezes, the breath out of him. It laughs a discordant tune before he gets grabbed by the collar again. He’s lifted off the ground and forced to look the faceless creature in the eyes.

It seemed to smile at him, the barest twitches of a grin but never quite there. “Go on, cry. No one will be there for you in the end.” When he doesn’t do anything, the specter slams him hard against the wall. Ronin whimpers again and tries to kick the illusion off, every movement hits air and he feels a crawling hopelessness climb his back.

He begins to grip the illusion’s arm that was holding him and starts to dig his nails in. It hisses and jostles Ronin, trying to get his nails off but he keeps holding on. It was foolish move but what was he to do? The mirrored illusion starts growling and both he and Morro notice that it's gripping the mask with an iron hold.

“You can’t escape forever. You can’t just keep running.” With reckless courage, he ignores the words and tries to kick at the mask. Maybe it was the source for why it was still there. For why it kept haunting him. The image only moves the mask away. What it doesn’t expect was for Morro to tear the mask away from it’s hand and to throw it across the room.

It crumbles away like leaves floating in the wind. Ronin falls to the floor and the only sounds were of them breathing heavily. The room was completely bare, with no evidence of the previous illusions. Ronin starts to sob loudly. He could still laughter, still hear sounds of his failure.

Morro goes to sit next to him, whispering quiet assurances until he calms down. He sniffles rubbing his eyes and his brother- His actual brother hugs him. Cradling him in his arms.

“I don’t completely understand what happened but that’s not your brother. I am. Brothers don’t.. Do that.” Morro finally says under the heavy silence that followed. It’s awkward and there’s so much both have learned but it’s devouring them. A brother Ronin doesn’t remember and a past better left hidden.

He didn’t know anymore where his home was but Morro was there. Morro was his real sibling. He wasn’t going to lose him. And the past wasn’t going to get to him. He was going to live. As best he could. As much as he tried.


End file.
